Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!

 

 Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

 

- Matthew 20:29-34 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify.  And the third day He will rise again."  (This was the second prophesy of His Passion that Jesus has given to the disciples.)  Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.  And He said to her, "What do you wish?"  She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one of Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom."  But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I am about the drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father."  And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know  that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

 

 Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.  My study Bible comments that these two blind men greet Jesus as Lord, the common title for God, and Son of David, which is a title which was deeply associated with the Messiah.  Although Christ knows what we want before we ask, it notes, He calls us to ask freely so that we might learn of His mercy.  There is also a spiritual interpretation of this miracle in patristic commentary, in which the two blind men symbolize future generations who would come to faith only through hearing, without the benefit of seeing Christ in person (see John 20:29).  In this interpretation, my study Bible notes, those who tried to silence the blind men are persecutors and tyrants who, in each generation, try to silence the Church.  But nonetheless, under persecution, the Church all the more confesses Jesus Christ.

 

 Today's reading asks us to consider for ourselves where our own blindness may be, and how it might be remedied and healed.  These two men understand their circumstances, and they pray to Christ -- as Messiah and Lord -- for their healing, which is His mercy.   They are asked by Christ, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  This invites us to consider not just what we want or would like God to do for us, but whether or not we understand our own blindness, and therefore what help we need to see.  The people who call for them to be quiet can be compared to our own voices, or to the voices of those around us, who don't want us to recognize our blindness nor what we need.  The blindness in today's reading can be compared to the blindness of denial to the truths that are around us and even within us, and especially denial of our need for Christ and the ways in which He can heal us.  In the Bible, Jericho is often considered a city symbolic of sin; in the parable of the Good Samaritan, the attack on the man needing help occurred on this road between Jerusalem and Jericho which Jesus now travels.  If we take today's reading symbolically, we might get great insight by considering how often circumstances would ask us to remain blind when we seek to be healed of the falsehoods we tell ourselves in order to "keep the peace," when in fact we need to face the reality of our circumstances.  Christ, as the way, the truth, and the life, is the One who brings the healing light to us that exposes the falsehoods we tell ourselves, or the lies that keep a bad circumstance from being opened up and cleansed for the good of all parties involved.  In this allegorical sense, it is these two blind men on the side of the road who are the ones who truly see, while the rest demand silence.  It is these two blind men who, in fact, recognize their Healer and Savior, and call to Him, who are the ones doing as He would desire.  And it is these two with whom Jesus will engage with a heart-to-heart question, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  As an allegorical story, we might ask ourselves why they are the only ones who seem to honestly want what Christ has to offer -- and in His truth and insight into the heart of human beings, He engages with them.  We human beings have a remarkable capacity for denial, for keeping ourselves blind so that we don't "rock the boat," as the expression goes, so that we can live with things we really should be doing something about to heal rather than leaving them as they are in neglect.  We might turn a blind eye to unpleasant facts we'd rather not face, or to problems -- for whatever reason -- we don't really want to solve.  But let us note:  this is not to suggest that radical solutions are necessary for everybody, or that we need to tear our world down in order to heal it.  Such theoretical abstractions are misguided.  What we need to do is what these two blind men do:  we need to appeal to Christ the true light for our healing, to help to show us what's in our hearts, and what is the truth we need to embrace and accept.  For this is the way of mercy and true justice, not destruction or hate, but love.  Let us remember that when we seek Christ's mercy, we seek His light and compassion, and we should be prepared to follow Him out of our own Jerichos, as these blind men do -- not heeding the voices that tell us to keep quiet or stop seeking our Lord.  Let us always remember that when we pray, "Lord have mercy," we ask for healing and light, the truth that saves.

 

 

If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing

 

 "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."  Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"  Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.  And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.  Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."  Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon!  Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'  Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?  And the prophets are dead.  Who do You make Yourself out to be?"  

 

Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.  Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him.  And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."  

 

Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"  Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

 

- John 8:47-59 

 In our current readings, Jesus is attending the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem (beginning from this reading).  He has been disputing with the religious leaders.   In yesterday's reading, they answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone.  How can You say, 'You will be made free'?"  Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.  And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.  Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.  I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.  I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father."  They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father."  Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.  But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God.  Abraham did not do this.  You do the deeds of your father."  Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father -- God."  Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.  Why do you not understand My speech?  Because you are not able to listen to My word.  You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.  But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.  Which of you convicts Me of sin?  And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?  He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."

 

  "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."  Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"  Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.  And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.  Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."  Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon!  Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'  Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?  And the prophets are dead.  Who do You make Yourself out to be?"   Today's reading begins with Christ's final statement to the religious leaders from yesterday's reading.  As these authorities in the temple are unable to defeat Christ through logic or truth, my study Bible comments, here they begin to resort to personal insult (see also John 9:34).  

Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.  Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him.  And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."  Once again, Jesus speaks regarding potential witnesses to His identity, as if offering testimony.  He will not testify of Himself, as He says for it is not for Him to honor Himself.  But the Father bears witness and honors Him -- and they do not know God the Father.  Then He offers another witness from the Scriptures, father Abraham.

 Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"  Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.  Here Jesus uses the divine Name of God from the Old Testament, first revealed to Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3:13-15).  This is the use of the I AM (Ἐγώ εἰμι/Ego eimi) here by Christ, in this particular context, which these men of the Council understand completely.  To them, my study Bible says, this was a direct, explicit, and unmistakable claim to perfect equality with God.  Therefore, this is what they clearly evidence by their reaction (Then they took up stones to throw at Him . . .).  (See also Mark 14:62-64.)   My study Bible adds that St. John places special emphasis on the use of this Name in order to clearly reveal Christ as God.  This divine claim, it says, illuminates Christ's authority, which is even over death (verse 52), which is a power that belongs only to God the Father.

In today's reading, Jesus declares, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God."  This may seem to us like a perplexing statement.  In our modern culture (especially in the West), we are used to thinking about ourselves as reliable witnesses or unreliable, truthful or untruthful.  But this is not the division Jesus is speaking of here, not the same type of discernment.  Jesus is speaking about what kind of yardstick by which we choose to measure things, and particularly to measure what is true and what is not true.  For this measurement -- and especially for the evaluation of this identity Jesus is expressing here -- only one yardstick will do.  There is only One who can measure and testify as to whom Jesus really is, and that is God the Father.  If we go back to Peter's confession of faith in St. Matthew's Gospel, Jesus replies to Peter directly afterward, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven."  See Matthew 16:16-17.  Elsewhere Jesus also speaks of God the Father revealing truth to people, when He says in St. Luke's Gospel, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight."    See Luke 10:21.  What we find in these two episodes is the affirmation from Christ that it is the Father who may testify to people.  Perhaps, of course, this happens in hidden ways.  But nevertheless, it happens, and this is made clear by Christ in His dialogue with these religious authorities who cannot understand nor "hear" Him.  Jesus will repeatedly make this claim, that they simply do not know Jesus because they do not really know God the Father.  Then He gives the example of another one to whom the Lord was revealed through faith, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."  In chapter 10, Jesus will refer these men to Psalm 82:6, affirming that the word of God can come to human beings, when He says,  "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, “You are gods"'?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?" (see John 10:33-36).  So all of this simply invites us to ask also, what is our yardstick?  By whose judgment do we measure?  If even Christ does not use His own judgment ("You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one" - John 8:15); then how are we to judge with good judgment?   If He says in today's reading, "And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges" (verse 50), then how are we to understand good judgment, apart from seeking our own glory, so to speak?  It is very easy to believe that only Christ can hear the word of God, but what Christ really teaches is that He is from above, and so knows God and heavenly things (John 3:12).  But at the same time, He also makes it clear that through faith, and through grace, we human beings can also be open to the wisdom of God, for it even may come from the mouths of babes.  When the children praise and welcome Him in the temple as the Christ, Jesus is angrily asked by the leaders, "Do You hear what these are saying?"  He replies, quoting from Psalm 8:2, "Yes. Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise' ?" (Matthew 21:15-16).  When we pray, we are putting our trust and confidence in God.  We seek to establish, uphold, affirm, and deepen that communion with God.  Faith also asks of us that we grow in this deepening communion, for we walk a path.  When Jesus teaches, "I am the way," that word translated as way means "road" in Greek.  Part of that deepening reliance and faith means that we must seek for ourselves to know the ultimate yardstick.  Like Christ, we seek the judgment of the Father, we pray for illumination by the Holy Spirit, we ask Christ to show us His path, to lead us in the road of righteousness and good judgment.  We can give up of ourselves and our own glory in order to seek the glory of the One who sent Christ, and whom He brought more deeply to us.  In St. John's chapter 5, Jesus asks the religious leaders, "How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?" (John 5:44).  Let us endeavor to do as Christ asks, and seek the honor that comes from the only God, the One whose judgment is true.

 

Lord, that our eyes may be opened

 

 Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

 

- Matthew 20:29-34 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify.  And the third day He will rise again."    Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.  And He said to her, "What do you wish?"  She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom."  But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father."  And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

 

Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.  My study Bible remarks that the two blind men greet Jesus as Lord, which is the common title for God, and Son of David, which is a title deeply associated with the Messiah.  It notes that even though Jesus knows what we want before we ask, He calls us to ask freely so that we might learn of His mercy.  Additionally, there is a spiritual interpretation to this miracle in the patristic literature of the Church.  In that perspective, the blind men symbolize future generations who would come to faith only by hearing, without the benefit of seeing Christ in person (see John 20:29).  Those who tried to silence the blind men represent oppressive persecutors and tyrants who, in every generation, try to silence the Church.  Nonetheless, under persecution, the Church all the more confesses Jesus Christ.

Traditionally, blindness in Scripture often represents sin in a certain perspective.  That is, sin as ignorance of the things of God, as blindness to understanding or receiving the things of God in the heart.  It symbolizes a lack of insight, an inability to perceive.  In chapter 13 of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus begun preaching in parables.  Quoting from Isaiah, He explained His use of parables to His disciples, using metaphors of seeing and  hearing:  "Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:  'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull.  Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.'  But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it" (Matthew 13:13-17, Isaiah 6:9-10).  St. Paul uses the same quotation in Acts 28:23-29.  We also note that Jesus is passing out of Jericho in today's reading.  In Scripture, Jericho was also a town symbolic of sin; in the parable of the Good Samaritan, the man who is later helped by the Samaritan is attacked by robbers and left for dead in this same road between Jerusalem and Jericho (see Luke 10:25-37).  So, we can read this story also as a parable, and understand that the gift of Christ -- and especially through the Holy Spirit which will be given to the world -- is a gift of sight to those who truly desire it.  Let us note how these blind men pray, with humility and faith.  They ask for mercy; they understand that they ask for a gift, not an entitlement.  They understand that Christ's mercy is a gift of compassion; they recognize the Giver in their prayer, and the immense goodness of God who gives life and meaning to the world.  As my study Bible has pointed out, they call Him Lord, a title for God, in recognition of the real majesty of the Person standing in front of them.  And they call Him Son of David, a title for the Messiah.  Their prayer for mercy is the prayer of a heart which has come to recognize the true weight and value of God in one's life, to understand and depend upon God's love and how precious that is to life.  And the gift of their sight opens them up to a life in front of them, to that road leading to Jerusalem on which Jesus travels, and they can now travel with Him.  The gift of sight, then, is the gift of life, and this is how we should understand the precious gift of spiritual sight, which gives meaning to the rest of our lives and guides us in what we will do.  The psalmist declares, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105).  Christ the Word is the lamp to our feet and the light to our path, and the gift of sight enables these men to follow that lamp and that light on the path to Jerusalem with Him.  Let us pray for our eyes to be opened, as they did, for Christ illumines our whole world, and makes our path straight so we can see our best way forward.

 

 

Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!

 Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him. 

- Matthew 20:29-34

Yesterday we read that Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify.  And the third day He will rise again."  Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.  And He said to her, "What do you wish?"  She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom."  But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father."  And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

 Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.  The title Son of David is a title for the Messiah, and Lord is the common title for God.  These two blind men greet Jesus with both titles.  My study bible comments that although Jesus already knows whatever it is we want before we ask, we are called to ask freely so that we might learn of His mercy.  In stories in the bible, Jericho was a city synonymous with sin (see the parable of the Good Samaritan).  Blindness as a metaphor for those who live in the ignorance of sin, without the light of God.   So there is one metaphorical understanding here of the two blind men symbolizing a fallen world, one which needs Christ's light for healing.  My study bible gives another spiritual interpretation of this miracle, with the blind men symbolizing future generations who would come to faith only through hearing, without having the benefit of seeing Christ in person (see John 20:29).  Those who try to silence these blind men, in this interpretation, are persecutors and tyrants who, in each generation, try to silence the Church.  Nonetheless, under persecution, the Church all the more confesses Jesus Christ.

What is blindness?  In some sense, these two blind men represent the world which struggles in a place of darkness; that is, of spiritual darkness.  It needs the light to be whole, to be healed.  We need the light to know where we are going.  They call out to Christ because He is the true hope for blindness.  The people tell them to be quiet, and in a sense we could say that this is the world that won't really respond or listen to our true needs.  It is Christ who responds.  And in their darkness and their own need, they are capable of recognizing the one person who can help.  They are capable of recognizing Christ as both Lord and Son of David, in His true identity.  Perhaps we can infer from this aspect of the story that it is in our deepest need, and true recognition of our brokenness or flaws that we come to terms with our own reality.  If blindness is a metaphor for our collective inability to see spiritually, then these two men who recognize their real problem give us a sense in which it is in fully coming to terms with our condition and need that we are capable of both knowing Christ and also turning to Him as the place where we get help.  In a sense, they also illustrate that He is the last and best hope, the place where we turn when we know that the world and all it offers cannot and has not really helped us.  Their voice is the voice of prayer, the way in which we communicate our real needs.  All around us, the world grasps for solutions to its problems.  There are a myriad of political solutions offered.  There is the solution of thinking that if only we had more wealth we'd fix ourselves.  Better healthcare is certainly an advantage over what is lacking.  But wisdom -- a true spiritual wisdom -- is always necessary no matter what we have and no matter our position in life.  Wealth and all the things that go with it don't keep us from problems like loneliness or despair.   They can't provide us with the wisdom of Christ's guidance in life.  They can't take us to the places where Christ gives us both solitude and companionship as necessary.  They cannot feed us with the love of God, and the meaning and beauty of God's life for us.  They can't give us a sense of ourselves in a true way:  wealth won't give us the true look at ourselves to know our blindness, and neither will it give us the choice to understand our spiritual potentials in Christ.  In some sense, this story reveals that the blind men are truly better off than the rest of the crowds.  They know what their ailment is.  They know what they need.  They know where they need to turn for help.   It is the crowd that is possibly more blind than they are, because it is these healed men who will follow Jesus on the road knowing that they have been healed by Him.  The multitudes are those who follow Jesus today, and yet at the end of Passion week in Jerusalem, they will be among those who are manipulated by the leaders to call for His crucifixion.   It is one thing to be blind and know that one is blind and needs help; it is quite another to be blind and unaware of that fact.  In some sense, we all live in Jericho, a place with a lot of problems, and brokenness.  It has failures, it has those who merely join a parade of life without crying out to the One who is the author of life, the bringer of our salvation, and without following Him on the road out of Jericho with the knowledge that whatever they've received is just the beginning of the journey.   If we were not also victims of spiritual blindness, perhaps we all would know of Christ's compassion and love for us, that whatever it is we have in life -- the good things we are capable of understanding -- it is down to the Lord and God's love for us.  Perhaps we, also, would start that journey with Him, and follow, knowing that our need for Him is always present, and that His guidance is the universal truth that is always drawing us to deeper union.  In the Church, our refrain in worship is always "Have mercy on us, O Lord!" 

And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road

 Now they came to Jericho.  As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.  Then they called the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer.  Rise, He is calling you."  And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.  So Jesus answered and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus aid to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

- Mark 10:46-52

Yesterday we read that they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed.  And as they followed they were afraid.  Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him:  "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask."  And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Grant that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in your glory."  But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared."  And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.  And whoever of you desires to be first of all shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Now they came to Jericho.  As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.  Then they called the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer.  Rise, He is calling you."  And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.  So Jesus answered and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus aid to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.  Let us first note that Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem, and Jericho is on this road.  Jericho was a low-lying city, which was associated with sin (Luke 10:30, 19:1).   Often blindness is symbolically associated with sin, and sin's detriment to ourselves as a sense in which there is something we lack or that we are missing, that keeps us from completeness, wholeness.  Moreover, the restoration of sight to the blind was a sign which was expected of the Messiah (Isaiah 29:18, 35:4-5), a power that was reserved by God for God  (compare John 9:32).  My study bible points out that Bartimaeus shows his faith that Jesus was the Christ, by calling Him Son of David, a title for the Messiah.  A traditional spiritual interpretation of this story is that Jericho, with its reputation for sin, is a symbol of fallen humanity.  Christ passing through  is an image of the Incarnation itself.  Christ's restoration of Bartimaeus' sight is a metaphor for His restoration of humanity to glory.  As human nature is made whole by Christ, it can now follow Christ on the road to the Kingdom, shown in Christ's subsequent Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (11:1-11).

If we think of blindness as a metaphor, we think of a person who misses something because they can't see it.  It's as if you have a set of facts from which you must operate in life, like, for example, approaching a street one must cross, only one can't see the cars coming or the obstacles in the way.  Blindness becomes a metaphor, in that sense, for not knowing what we are doing, not truly understanding the whole picture of our reality.  (Of course this is not at all to throw disparagement on those who are physically blind!  This is meant to portray only a metaphor for a spiritual condition.)  Frequently, in an argument, one might reproach another for not understanding or accepting what one considers to be obvious, by telling one's opponent, "You are blind!"  Jesus also uses blindness as a metaphor for spiritual darkness by saying of the religious leaders, "They are blind leaders of the blind" (Matthew 15:14).  In this way He meant to convey that they were misguided by what they could not see or perceive, and their own leadership would lead to stumbling for all who followed them.  So, in this context, we might ask ourselves regarding this story of blind Bartimaeus, what it is that Jesus brings to the world, and to us as individuals, that we need in order to truly see.  That is, in spiritual terms, what does Jesus give us that illuminates our lives, our places in the world and the cosmos, that adds a dimension both necessary for our wholeness and which is missing from a sinful point of view.  If we think of sin not as something horribly evil on our part, but as something denoting ignorance (for which blindness is metaphor), then we come to a certain kind of perspective we might not usually have on the matter.  Christ offers us enlightenment, also a metaphor for a restoration of the ability to see.  He opens our eyes (another metaphor) to possibilities of the fullness of life that we can't encounter in a worldly perspective, because a worldly perspective misses the mystical reality that nurtures body, soul, and spirit in wholeness.  As Jesus is in today's reading passing through Jericho, let us consider another metaphor for ourselves at this time.  We pass through a kind of Jericho, an affliction that leaves us vulnerable, even crippled at the moment.  The entire world experiences together at this time a pandemic of the coronavirus.  Virtually the entire economy of the world is shut down -- as over 150 countries are afflicted -- in order to combat the spread of this virus for which we have no vaccine and no known cure.   There is an enormous amount of fear associated with this circumstance, and just as with the faith Christ asks of us, fear is the wrong direction for those of us who put our faith in Christ.  Our way is to continue to walk forward and place our trust in Him, looking for the illumination we need to go through, the bright spots of light we can follow, and the endurance which He teaches His disciples of all ages and through all time.  Christ asks us for courage, and that is a part of the light we need, as well.  Jericho is a "low-lying city" -- and so we might pass through what we could call a low point.  But "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).  As our timing coincides with Lent, we understand that as Christians, it is already a time for more focused prayer, inspirational literature, Scripture reading, and even if we do so virtually, corporate worship.  We also have open to us to pray at home the Prayers of the Hours, the various services the Church has used throughout the centuries in monasteries.  Praying through the Psalms is another good practice for Lent.  All of these Lenten practices help to build up our strength and fortitude.  They build our courage.  They give us a sense that what we need is not panic and fear, nor anxiety, but the bedrock of our faith that has always fully accepted that life will have difficulties, and never have we been blind to the understanding of the nature of our world, and even the evil that is within it, including affliction and illness.  As Christians, and with the One whom we call our Leader, we follow Him through danger and difficulty, and not with blindness to any of the reality of our world.  Jesus, in today's reading, is on His way to Jerusalem, on His way to Palm Sunday, which is right around the corner (this Sunday, or next week for the Eastern Orthodox).  So we find ourselves together with Him.  He is the cure for our blindness, for our fear and anxiety, for the courage He offers and the faith He strengthens, for His love which always teaches and leads in the light.  Let us step up to this moment and really fulfill our mission as His disciples, and be the fullness of what we can be in His healing and wholeness for humanity.  He teaches us endurance and calm in the storm (see this reading, and this one).    Let us look to His light, and not be one of the blind led by the spiritually blind.  At this time, with all things, it is our faith that will make us well, helping to cling to the positive, using all things for good purpose, and setting ourselves on a steady course through our difficulties, keeping our eyes open for the best way forward.  Moreover, we use our God-given gift of intelligence to do our best and prudently approach our efforts at mitigation, acting responsibly on behalf of all, and following the best advice of experts.  Let us remember that Bartimaeus' prayer is the basis of the prayer of the Church through the ages, the best short prayer we can utter, even doing so perpetually as a good practice, "Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me!"  Let us also follow Jesus on the road.

What do you want Me to do for you?

 Now they came to Jericho.  As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.  Then they called the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer.  Rise, He is calling you."  And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.  So Jesus answered and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

- Mark 10:46-52

Yesterday we read that Jesus and the disciples were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed.  And as they followed they were afraid.  Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him:  "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask."  And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory."  But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared."  And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.  And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." 

 Now they came to Jericho.  As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.  Then they called the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer.  Rise, He is calling you."  And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.  So Jesus answered and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.  My study bible comments that the restoration of sight to the blind was a sign which was expected to be performed by the Messiah, and a power that God had reserved for only God's use alone (compare John 9:32).  That Bartimaeus calls Jesus Son of David shows his faith that Jesus is the Messiah, for was a messianic title.  There is in tradition also a spiritual interpretation of this miracle.  Jericho was a low-lying city associated with sin, and notorious for crime (see the parable of the Good Samaritan, which takes place on this dangerous road to Jericho).   Here, the city symbolizes fallen humanity with all of its imperfections, limitations, problems.  Bartimaeus' blindness becomes an image of our struggles in this darkness.  In this perspective, Christ passing through Jericho is an image of the Incarnation.  Jesus' restoration of sight to Bartimaeus, my study bible says, parallels His restoring humanity to glory.  It is a picture of "enlightenment."  Bartimaeus is made whole by Christ, and thus human nature, transfigured by the light of grace, is capable of following Christ on the road to the Kingdom -- symbolized in Christ's later entrance into Jerusalem.  

In all of this week's readings, Jesus emphasizes to the disciples the importance of humility in their understanding of power and its use in His kingdom, His way.  He repeatedly has told them that He will suffer and die in Jerusalem, and rise on the third day.  He has emphasized to these men who will become the first bishops of His church, how power and authority must be wielded in His name, that in even the littlest ones whom they receive in His name they must see Him, Christ -- and also the Father who sent Him.   This is the way He defines the order of true greatness, through service and humility, expressions of active love in the way of the Cross.  In a particular sense, the healing of Bartimaeus is an image of this teaching.  If we consider the place of Bartimaeus, it is as one of the "littlest ones" in the sense of power or authority.  He can do nothing but sit by this dangerous road, in a place notorious for sin, begging.  He is an image of helplessness, powerlessness, and infirmity.  But he has one thing at hand, he has faith that Jesus is the Christ.  He is such a lowly person that when he shouts out to Jesus in this no doubt tumultuous and noisy crowd, he is told by many to be quiet.  But Jesus hears him, and stands still in order to call out to him.  To be called by Christ speaks clearly to vocation, to spiritual hearing.  Bartimaeus may not be able to see, but he can hear, and with the important spiritual sense of hearing, which Bartimaeus uses to the fullest of his capacity, he may respond to Jesus' call answering his own pleas.  There is a message there that even in our weakness and imperfection, even with wounds and with severe loss, handicap, or lack, what we have -- with faith -- is enough.  In Thursday's reading, Jesus taught, "With God all things are possible."  Our limitations and imperfections do not really limit us, for we as human beings possess a nature capable of development and compensation for the things we lack, for what is missing from our lives, what we wish we had and think we need.  We are capable of developing whatever it is we do have, even with faith as tiny as a mustard seed.  This is  the true image of human nature which Christ teaches us, our capacity as spiritual creatures made in the image and likeness of God.  Throughout the Gospels, the stories teach us about persistence, awareness, and resourcefulness, making the best of what we have with our intelligence and capacity for the love of Christ and responding to the good He offers.   The people who approach Christ all lack something; the ones who find redemption are those who, despite circumstances, find a way to Christ:  whether we are speaking of a Gentile woman outside of Israel, a paralyzed man taken to Christ by his friends by lowering him through a roof, a woman who had bankrupted herself on failed medical treatments, or a forsaken demoniac living among the tombs.  The one man, whom Christ loves, who fails to find that extra effort to follow Christ is the rich young man who has so much, and who cannot see a way to part with his possessions.  Bartimaeus means "son of Timaeus", and Timaeus comes from a Greek word meaning "to honor" or "esteem."  He may be the lowliest person on that road through Jericho, but he gives us the truth of our nature -- though disfigured, capable of the greatest virtue through the faith that recognizes and fervently desires what is truly good.  He follows Christ on the road to Jerusalem, becoming one of those who travel with the disciples to Jerusalem.  He will see the Triumphal Entry, symbolizing Christ's entrance into His kingdom.  It is he who will live the words of Simeon's song.  We recall Jesus' teaching regarding John the Baptist:  "For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he" (Luke 7:28).  Where will grace take you with whatever it is you have, in the ways you might not yet know you are capable of following Him?  This is the real story of who we are in the light of Christ, and it is the meaning of salvation and redemption.  He doesn't call us in our perfection; He calls us as we are right now.  Christ's strength is made perfect in our weakness and infirmities  (2 Corinthians 12:9).  This is the great beauty revealed in His ministry and mission.  All we need is our own love and trust in Him, and a deep desire for what He offers.

Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!

Now they came to Jericho.  As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.  Then they called the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer.  Rise, He is calling you."  And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.  So Jesus answered and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Go your way, your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

- Mark 10:46-52

In yesterday's reading, we were told that Jesus and the disciples were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed.  And as they followed they were afraid.  Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him:  "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes, and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles, and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask."  And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory."  But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"   They said to Him, "We are able."  So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared."  And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.  And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

 Now they came to Jericho.  As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on Me!"   My study bible points out that "Have mercy" is a phrase heard often in the liturgical tradition of the Eastern Church.  Indeed, it seems to be prevalent through many or almost all traditions of worship.  It says, "Mercy is God's lovingkindness, His tender compassion towards repentant sinners." 

Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"   We have noted often in the Gospels how Jesus praises persistence, and it teaches us our own persistence in prayer and in our relationship to Christ.  Here, there's a kind of a struggle; the neighbors are telling him to be quiet, but Bartimaeus cries out all the more.  Through all of Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, this sort of persistence in pursuit of relationship and dialogue with God is praised.

So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.  Then they called the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer.  Rise, He is calling you."  And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.  So Jesus answered and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  My study bible says, "Jesus knows all things, and knows this man is blind.  Yet He asks, What do you want Me to do for you?  The man  could have asked, 'Lord, give me grace to live with blindness,' but he asks for his sight.  Faith needs to be specific, and Jesus requests him to exercise his faith by asking for a specific need.  Rabboni means 'my teacher,' showing the man's affection for Jesus."  Jesus' question, "What do you want Me to do for you?" is also repeated in the Gospels, inviting dialogue and specific request from the heart.

The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Go your way, your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.  My study bible says here:  "Bartimaeus follows Jesus, becoming a disciple of His (the road is Gr. hodos, the same word used for 'the Way' in Acts 9:2), and is not commanded to silence.  Now that Jesus is heading toward an open confrontation with the Jewish leaders in the Holy City, the veiling of His identity (the messianic secret) is no longer necessary."

There is a lot of tension in this story, between silence and shouting out.  We remember Jesus' word elsewhere, quoting Psalm 8:2:  "Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise."   Blind Bartimaeus cannot be silenced here in this city of Jericho, on the way to Jerusalem, the place where God's people shouted down the walls to victory.  Bartimaeus is told to hush, presumably out of respect for Jesus, but Jesus instead notes his persistence, and invites him to come and tell him, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  This reminds us of the story of the Syro-Phoenician woman, who pestered Jesus like a little puppy, for which she was rewarded and praised, even as Jesus had tried to be hidden in a house.   Again, there is the contrast between shouting out and silence.  What this gives us an image of is a God, a kind of parent or authority, who, far from being content with our silence and respect, praises us for our troubling, persistent, noisome attention and prayer.  This is an authority that would much rather hear from us than receive a kind of distant, cold, routine obeisance.  We remember the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel for his blessing.  This is a kind of type or image of what is happening in today's story with Bartimaeus.  He won't be silenced by custom or courtesy; what he wants most of all is to get to his Rabboni, the One he loves and has faith and hope in.  Jesus loves and rewards persistence and dialogue.  This is repeatedly true in the Gospels, and He also teaches the disciples that we must endure in prayer and be persistent in our prayer.  This will be especially so after He is gone from this world in the flesh ("Watch therefore, and pray always").  (See also the Parable of the Unjust Judge, and Jesus' teaching on continual prayer.)   Our God is one who wants His children to be present, active and persistent in relationship, vocal in what we want from Him, but perhaps most of all, in constant communication born of love and true desire in the heart.  Christian forms of meditation take on this quality of persistent prayer, with the repetition, for example of what is called the Jesus Prayer, or the Prayer of the Heart.  Whatever way we enter into dialogue with Christ, let us remember His praise for our persistence, and that the Lord we worship is one who enjoys and repeatedly praises those who "pester" Him!  Our Lord is a God of love, who always wishes from us communion, and love in response, a true dialogue of the heart.  Let us recall the words of Psalm 27: "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up."  Christ always wants to hear from us, and mercy is His unfailing love, His steadfast lovingkindness.  This is an active relationship, and we're to put our heart and soul into it, so that He may draw ever closer to us, dwelling in our hearts.

Make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth

 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make His paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough ways smooth;
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed to you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."

- Luke 3:1-14

Over the course of the past several readings, we have been finishing the current lectionary selections on the Gospel of John.  Last week, we read through Jesus' Farewell Discourse to His Apostles.  See  In My Father's house are many mansions;   Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you;  I am the vine, you are the branches;  This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you;  When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth and That your joy may be full.   This week, we have read through Jesus' final prayer to the Father before His betrayal and arrest.  On Monday, Jesus prayed, "Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."  On Tuesday, He continued, regarding His Apostles and those to follow, "Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth."  In yesterday's reading, Jesus prayed, "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.   Today the lectionary cycle again takes us through readings in the Gospel of Luke.  Luke is careful to set us down historically in the place where we start reading in the Gospel.  My study bible has notes on the several figures mentioned here.  Of Tiberias, it notes that he "ruled as sole Roman emperor in A.D. 14-37, but had authority over the provinces from A.D. 11 on.  Thus the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus began sometime between A.D. 26 and 28.  Pilate was governor of Judea from A.D. 26-36."  "Caiaphas," it notes, "was the sole official high priest (A.D. 18-36), but people recognized behind him the power of his father-in-law, Annas, a previous high priest deposed by the Romans."  We note the language here:  the "word of God came to John . . . in the wilderness."  We call the Gospels the word, as Scripture is the living Word.  But above all, as John's Gospel revealed to us, we know Christ as the Word.  There are all kinds of ways in which "the word" comes to us:  but where the Word is there is also the Spirit and the Father.

And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"  My study bible tells us that "the call to repentance was typical of the Old Testament prophets, but John's baptism for the remission of sins sounds a deeper note:  a symbolic washing away of sins, prefiguring that which will come.  As Paul writes in Rom. 6:1-6, those who come to Christ will be buried with Him in baptism, rising to new life."  Of the quotation from Isaiah (40:3-5 and 52:10), it tells us, "Isaiah the prophet foresaw the momentous significance of the period of the Messiah and the preparation necessary for it." 

Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  My study bible tells us, "Ethnic or 'spiritual' ancestry does not guarantee security in the face of God's judgment.  Only faithful repentance and good works worthy of it bring salvation.  Stones symbolize Gentile Christians who became children of God."

So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed to you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."  The emphasis here is on "making the way straight" for the Lord.  The types of action John suggests to the people who practice repentance here are all ways of expressing that "every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth":  that is, those with wealth shall help to care for those who haven't, the tax collectors should not extort extra money but do a fair job and require honestly only as much as people truly owe, the soldiers should not use their power to collect from others through intimidation, false "protection" or false accusations against others.  In each way, this is "leveling" and "making the way straight" for the Lord.

In some way we can see reflected in the words of Isaiah the song of Mary at the Annunciation, which comes in chapter 1 of Luke's Gospel.  The lectionary cycle now starts at chapter 3, but let us go to chapter 1 to teach us about Mary and her song:  "He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant . . . He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.  He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly.  He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty."  We have, in so many ways in the Gospels, the lifting up of the lowly, the leveling of the ways of the Lord, the making the crooked ways straight.  And we can see this reflected over and over in the Gospels in many dimensions and through many teachings and meanings.  Jesus will teach, in Matthew's Gospel (20:25-28), "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—  just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”  The Lord has a way of lifting up the lowly, of bringing down those who are too high to relate as they must, of accomplishing His methods through what is straight and not crooked, including the hearts that are pure and capable of love, and those characters that are straightforward in loving the truth.  All of this is a sign that points to the greatest truth of the Gospels, the manifestation to us of the Word Himself in human form.  St. Athanasius of Alexandria has written,  "For He was made man that we might be made God"  ("Section 54", On the Incarnation) and St. Augustine has told us, "If we have been made sons of God, we have also been made gods" ("Psalm 50", Exposition of the Book of Psalms).  So these great Fathers of the Early Church are teaching us about what is often called the condescension of God to us, although the word "condescension" now means something quite different in common parlance than the great love and truth that it is meant to teach us.  God lifts up the lowly in the ways that are beyond our understanding.  Out of love God comes to redeem and to make new, to transform, to turn us all into children of God should we also respond back with our love.  The "stones" that my study bible tells us are symbolic of the Gentiles are those which can be used to pave this road, to prepare this Way, to "make His paths straight."  As children of God, anything is possible with God.  Let us remember His condescension and love, let us remember the Word, and why, and how, in so many ways, it is present to us and is waiting for us.  Let us practice His love and truth, as He has taught us, and become sons and children of God through His adoption.